Ribbons, flowers and a GoFundMe honor SLO police detective killed in the line of duty
The San Luis Obispo community is rallying to honor fallen Det. Luca Benedetti and his family with ribbons, flowers and a fundraising campaign.
On Wednesday, the Police Department’s downtown station was filled with tables of full of brightly colored bouquets, a large portrait, and notes of sympathy for the loss of the 37-year-old Benedetti.
“We are overwhelmed with gratitude,” the department wrote. “Thank you very much for the support during this difficult time.”
Outside, John Boy’s Towing parked a truck on nearby Santa Rosa Street with flags hoisted at half-staff. The tribute was shown in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
A GoFundMe account has been established by SLO officials to help the Benedetti family, including Luca’s wife and two daughters, and had reached more than $183,000 in donations toward a $250,000 goal as of noon Wednesday.
Other community efforts included a ribbon-tying event Tuesday evening, in which volunteers pinned blue bows on city trees, light poles, bridges and other places to honor the fallen officer.
Flags have been lowered across the state in honor of Benedetti, who died Monday in the line of duty, and Stockton police Officer Jimmy Inn, 30, who was killed Tuesday while responding to a domestic violence call.
Benedetti was killed Monday while serving a search warrant with five other officers at an apartment on Camellia Court.
Another detective, Steve Orozco, also was injured in the shooting incident and is now at home recovering, Christine Wallace, a city spokesperson, told The Tribune in an email Wednesday. He’s expected to make a full recovery.
The shooting suspect, Edward Zamora Giron, 37, was found dead with a self-inflicted, fatal gunshot wound and injuries consistent with return fire from officers, according to a city press release.
Wallace said that as of Wednesday morning, no decisions had been made about a funeral service for Benedetti and whether that event would be open to the public.
GoFundMe post details family background
More information about Benedetti’s family background was shared on the GoFundMe page, in support of the detective’s family.
He was born in San Francisco to Italian immigrant parents and raised in the Bay area, the page notes.
Benedetti moved to the Central Coast to attend Cal Poly and study engineering, but “his true career passion was found in law enforcement,” according to the GoFundMe biography.
Following graduation from the Allan Hancock Police Academy, Benedetti started his career with the Atascadero Police Department in 2008 before moving on to the San Luis Obispo Police Department in 2012. He also served on the SLO Regional SWAT team.
“Luca left behind his beautiful wife and their two precious, young daughters,” the page states. “As a community, we cannot fix this loss, but we can provide love, prayers and financial support to those left behind tasked with picking up the pieces of this broken family.”
Benedetti loved cooking, organic gardening and his Italian heritage.
“Luca lived for his family, and now that he has passed, we will do our best as a community, both far and wide, to help his family in any way we can,” the page added. “All generously donated funds will go directly to Luca’s family as they navigate this very difficult time.”
This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 12:51 PM.
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